Mahbub Morshed, Managing Director and Chief Editor of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), secured bail after surrendering before a Dhaka court in a defamation case filed by poet and Daily Jugantor Editor Abdul Hai Shikdar.

Mahbub Morshed on Monday (April 28) appeared before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ziauddin’s court and sought bail through his lawyer. 

After the hearing, the judge granted his bail upon a bond of Tk 500.

Plaintiff's lawyer Anwarul Islam confirmed the matter. 

He said that an application has also been filed for issuing arrest warrants against the two other accused. The court will pass its order later.

Earlier, on March 23, Abdul Hai Shikdar filed the case against three people, including the BSS chief. The other accused are former Joint Secretary of Dhaka Union of Journalists Khairul Alam and Asaduzzaman Asad. In the case, Asad was identified as a financial supporter of the Awami League.

The same day, the court recorded the plaintiff’s statement and issued summons for the accused to appear before it.

According to the complaint, on March 17, Mahbub Morshed posted a fabricated poem on his Facebook account, falsely attributing it to Abdul Hai Shikdar. The caption requested readers to see how a poet insulted Begum Khaleda Zia, claiming such poets still benefit from BNP despite their hate.

On January 16, accused Khairul Alam also posted the same poem on Facebook, saying it was written by Shikdar and gifted to former president Ershad. He further commented on Shikdar’s rise to the editorship of Jugantor.

Later, Asaduzzaman Asad posted the same content on Facebook, claiming he received the poem from a fellow nationalist journalist and shared it out of respect for Shikdar, mentioning the poem was given to Ershad.

The complaint added that the information shared was completely false, baseless, fabricated, and defamatory. It claimed that the posts caused damage to the plaintiff’s reputation worth Tk 10 crore.

MSK/